This week year 2 had a very special visit from the fire service. We learned all about staying safe and thought about how to make a fire plan at home.

In English, we have been learning about the Gunpowder Plot and have made wanted poster to describe Guy Fawkes. We have used fantastic adjectives to describe his appearance and motives!

In Maths, we have begun our work on positional language. We have described the location of objects in relation to others (above, behind, below, inside, etc…) and to describe movement (forwards, backwards, left, right, north, east, south, west). We were great at this.

In Science, we have been considering which materials we would make certain objects from - and which wouldn’t be suitable!

For our Geography work, we have been looking at continents. We have labelled them and next week we will be researching the different continents in groups.

In RE we made models for the Holy Trinity and really thought hard about why we included each symbols. They will be coming home next week, ready for your mantelpiece!

Finally, we have been busily preparing for our Nativity. All children have their lines so please practice them regularly. They need to know them inside and out! Also, we have sent a song sheet home and these can be practiced with the songs uploaded in the ‘homework’ section of the year 2 page.

YR1 AND 2’S NATIVITY WILL TAKE PLACE ON TUESDAY 18TH DECEMBER AT 9.30AM AND 2PM. EACH CHILD WILL BE SENT TWO TICKETS FOR EACH PERFORMANCE. THERE WILL BE NO EVENING PERFORMANCE.

Award winners this week…

Maths - Ollie for a super attitude and confidence in his mathematical work.

It has been a very busy week in Year 2 again. We have celebrated World Kindness Day and have been thinking about the things we can - and already - do to show our kindness and care for others. Check out our ‘kindness door’ in the school entrance hall to see our thoughts!

This week, we have been writing an explanation text about the life cycle of a frog. Judging from what we have produced, I think we have become experts on frogs. Ask us to give you a fact! We have also been learning all about adverbs and how we can use them to improve our writing.

In maths, we have been learning how to add an amount of tens to a two-digit number, quickly and mentally. We have reinforced this by checking our calculations on hundred squares.

We had a very busy week in RE, where we have been learning about the Holy Trinity. We looked at the different symbols for The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit and have made our own symbols from salt dough!

Our Geography topic has been all about Planet Earth and we have been identifying physical features we might find on our little blue planet…

Our Science learning has focused upon materials and we have been exploring the suitability of different types of paper for absorbing spillages.

Award winners this week…

Maths - Leo - for his concentration, effort and independent work.

Golden Award - Maia - for setting a super example to our class.

Writing Award - Summer - for her hard work, not just in writing but also in her spelling!

Finally, the Nativity songs have been added to the ‘Homework’ page. Please listen to them and practice them at home.

We’ve had another hectic week in Year 2, full of lots of fun learning.

We have continued our Read Write Inc work in our groups and lots of us have begun to plan and write our own stories.

In Maths, we have finished our work on number bonds to 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 20. We have been using this knowledge to find subtraction facts, numbers with more tens with bond patterns and using our bonds to mentally add numbers where the total is larger than 10. We have no moved on to look at 2D shapes and have thought about symmetry and how to identify right angles.

Our RE focus has been on the story of Moses. We have written diary entries from the point of view of his sister, Miriam.

In Science, we have continued to investigate plants - thinking about the main things a plant needs to grow and thrive - and have set up lots of comparative tests to explore this.

We have also engaged in Great Fire of London art work and have compared modern London to the London of 1666.

Maths award winner was Abigail.

Writing award winner was Issy.

Golden award winner was Dainton.

Well done to everyone!

You may also have noticed that your child’s reading book may have changed. This is because we have started our Accelerated Reading scheme which children use from Y2 to Y6. The children took initial computer quizzes to determine their comprehension level and are set books appropriate to this. As your child reads, they will take computer quizzes at school which test their understanding of the stories. As they complete quizzes and demonstrate this understanding, they will be assigned trickier and trickier books. So please don’t fret if your child’s book appears too low for them right now, they will soon fly through them.

May I also add that your child has been sent home with homework this week - spellings, English work and some Maths work. Please complete these at home and return to school by next Thursday. I will look at all homework I receive but will be unable to comment back on work unless there is a specific misconception or difficulty that I need to discuss.

Finally, we have sent home some song words to learn for our Harvest service next week. Attached is the song to practice singing with your child.

We have really enjoyed our first full week in Year 2 and it has certainly been a busy one!

In English, we are looking at stories with familiar settings and have been learning all about Sister for Sale. We have had lots of fantastic discussions and have been focusing upon our capital letters and full stops when we write.

In Maths, we’ve been exploring number bonds to 10. We have talked about how important these are to know so we can solve all kinds of number problems. Towards the end of the week we have also been looking at subtraction as the inverse of addition.

In RE, we have been learning all about being chosen by God and the unique gifts he has given us to share with others.

Our topic has begun and is all about The Great Fire of London. We learned where London is, labelled it on a map of the UK and have been hearing the sequence of events. Ask your child to tell you all about it.

In Science, we have been looking at plants. We have recapped our knowledge on the parts of a plant and have been observing and exploring seeds.

We have also been looking at Beebots in computing and have designed maps, written algorithms and programmed the Beebots to reach a destination.

Our Lady’s aim is to provide happy, secure and exciting learning opportunities and hope that we can work together to achieve the best for your child, and look forward to working in partnership with you.